A Message from Bob – Thanks to my computer’s ongoing Carnival of Ever Changing Problems, this article has become a three parter instead of two. The pictures for this and the conclusion of the Sgt Pepper and Beatles Dissertation (no longer ‘Short’) will run as soon as possible next week, when this damn machine stays stable…wish me luck.

The Family Tree had just played a one night stand at Portland, Oregon’s Crystal Ballroom, a beautiful recently cleaned up and renovated dance hall on the 3rd or 4th floor of a landmark bldg, complete with floor to ceiling windows and a ball-bearing sprung dance floor that moved and undulated under the dancer’s feet.

It was the end of the night, and time to head to Hung Far Low for Chinese food, or back to the motel to get high or crash, just as soon as the Fugs (the headliners of the show) cleared their gear off the stage so we could tear down our PA and pack up.

It was just after 1:00am on the 31st of May, 1967

That’s when David Crosby walked into the ballroom with a 10 inch reel of tape under his arm….

Time for another rerun about my hometown. Was reminded of the story of Cold Red yesterday, and took it as a sign to find and post this nostalgic look back. Things have not been great for me lately…for a lot of us, really. Tough times come and go like the weather, but being able to look back on a life well lived, and the people and places that made you who you are and brought so much joy into your life will always be there to remember. I hope you have memories that mean as much to you as these do to me.

I got a message! Yep, I got a message from someone who was not trying to steal my identity or sell me penis enhancement medication! I mean, this does not happen as much as you would think, even with my superior intellect and excellent writing skills. I am sure most of you picture me at a desk overflowing with fan mail— buried in it, in fact.

Many of you have sent some wonderful emails and messaged me on Facebook wanting to hear some of the music I have been fortunate enough to write and record over the years. Wanting to share some with you, I began to go through the available YouTube videos (WordPress asks for money if you want to use Mp3’s, but allows video links) and realized I had published many of them previously, so I set about to create some that NO ONE has seen. Most of the new ones in this column are just a snapshot or two so I could post the songs, but 1 or 2 are a little more filled out. Regardless, it’s just about the music anyway, so I hope you enjoy them.

I will assume many of you noticed a lack of new content here for the last 8 days. The reason was a frustratingly large amount of viruses, malware, and Dweeb driven shitbots that made posting anything dangerous until it was all found, quarantined, and/or deleted. I apologize for the lull, and have this to say about it….